With the SmackDown series now in its ninth year, the WWE game franchise has never showed any signs of slowing down or going away. Its not only the rabid wrestling fan who runs out to purchase the new copy each year. Even the casual gamer feels the urge to lay the smackdown every now and again, as WWE and THQ have carved their own niche in gaming history.

It has been around so long that new features become a main focus each year, and developers try to ensure the game and its mechanics never feel worn out. They may not always succeed, but in 㢭 theyve given us the sharpest-looking, hardest-hitting WWE title to date. It features the most involved storyline yet and voiceover work from the biggest names in wrestling. Create A Finisher indulges your imaginative side with thousands of possible ways to lay someone out. Graphics, sound, and fluidity of motion is as slick as it gets for older systems. This is an amazing game released for the PSP, offering a good time for anyone looking to smack someone around wherever they roam.

The game boasts an impressive presentation from the get-go, with attractive menus and aggressive ring entrance music to get you in the mood to wreak havoc. In all, this game feels is as though it is the one most connected with the actual television programs, with the inclusion of deeply involved voiceover work in the Road to Wrestlemania story mode and the incredible likenesses of all 50+ wrestlers on the roster. This game feels much more real than any other WWE title released to date. New heroes, villains, and legends in the sport are all on the list, including personal favorites and old ECW and WCW alumni Tommy Dreamer, Rey Mysterio Jr., and some of the greats who still grace WWE. Scrolling through them all is fast with no time wasted to load their images, and in the ring, their movements mimic their real-life actions.

The most notable highlight of the game is its graphics. All the athletes look glossy and move fluidly about the ring, with a cartoonish likeness of their real-life counterpart. There is no obvious dulling down of graphics in the transition of a next-gen game to the PSP, which can often happen in games resulting in ugly pixelation, foggy hazes in the background, or framerate problems. The crowd looks three-dimensional and active, as they wave signs with humorous slogans that read Im Special. The transitioning between regular in-ring action and grapple and finishing animations is incredibly smooth, and the amount of moves to perform on your opponent are as full of variety as ever. Each brutal animation of Kane smashing someones knee or a beat-down from Umaga is graphically realistic with a very natural-looking interaction between characters.

The buttons are still pretty much the same as last year, using the directional pad to move around, Circle to initiate a grapple and the Analog nub to pull off a grappling move. Whats different is the finishing system, which uses a meter that fills up incredibly fast as you build momentum by beating the hell out of your opponent. You can choose to store your finisher or perform it before your momentum runs down. You can only store one finisher and hitting Triangle in the appropriate position pulls it off. There are definitely more indications flashing onscreen to help you out with a strong arcade feel. There are also lots of features that let you change how the game is played with the option to turn off the HUD, display counts, and vibrations. Before a game, you also have the ability to change the power of finishing moves, momentum rates, and how often the CPU will perform reversal moves. Adjustments such as these will not only alter the way you play the game, but they also affect how the A.I. performs in a match. The improved A.I. in SvR 2009 is a noticeable feature and it is something fans have been asking for.

Another new feature in 2009 is the Inferno Match. It may not add much in the way of gameplay, but it does make for a nice visual, as the squared circle is literally turned into a ring of fire with the ropes ablaze. Even with the amount of movement amongst the crowd, the fighters, and the searing flames, there is no slowdown or clipping whatsoever. For those unfamiliar with an Inferno bout, the idea of the match is to heave your opponent over the top rope (in this case, by holding R1 to grapple and Right Analog to throw) resulting in a non-life threatening fire on the buttocks of the loser. Hilarity ensues.

It is this sort of variety that makes SvR 2009 enjoyable and the little things you can do while in the midst of battle add to the fun. The options to bash your own head in with a steel chair or get in an argument with a mouthy crowd member give the game some diversity. The commentating is natural, full of variety, and undoubtedly the best I have ever heard for any wrestling game. It may be the best I have heard in any sports game in some time, as the team consisting of J.R., King, Taz, and Michel Cole add a lot of variety and relevant comments to what is happing in the ring.

This years Road to Wrestlemania is undoubtedly the most in-depth story mode in any WWE game. First, there are six different modes, each starring a different superstar: John Cena, Undertaker, Triple H, Chris Jericho, CM Punk, and a tag team co-op storyline starring Rey Mysterio Jr. and Batista. You have the ability to save your progress in each storyline in a different slot, so you can jump to play in different stories whenever you choose. This setup offers a lot of variety when playing Road to Wrestlemania with several hours to complete each, making it undoubtedly the best story mode in any wrestling game ever. Each storyline is different, though they all focus on the stars journey to Wrestlemania, with well-written scripts and plot twists that play out much like the television programs. The dialogue in the storylines is phenomenal, as each WWE superstar narrates their virtual Road to Wrestlemania, and other guest voiceover work is provided by other characters throughout each story. Additional narration from all the commentators from Raw and Smackdown can be hilarious at times, and the story mode is as entertaining to play as it is to watch. Gone are the days of reading along to the text as characters mouth the words silently. Even the messages you receive on your cell phone while in the locker feature voice recordings from the stars who sent them. The amount of time put into making the Road to Wrestlemania is obvious, and the hands-on involvement of each superstar is an innovative feature that makes SvR 2009 the most fun WWE game I have ever played.